To know God and to make Him known
Nov 12, 2013

You Need a Budget

“There is no dignity quite so impressive, and no independence quite so important, as living within your means.” – Calvin Coolidge Date Night in my home falls on Wednesdays. This week the forester and I cleared a spot at the table and huddled romantically by laptop light to review...

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Nov 11, 2013

Why Study Latin?

Why Study Latin—The Tutor’s View by Matt Bianco   In the summer of 2012, I had a conversation with one of my rising Challenge IV students and her family. She wanted to quit the study of Latin in her final year of homeschooling with Classical Conversations. We met and...

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Nov 05, 2013

What if Adam and Eve had been Challenge Students?

Recently, a few of our city commissioners tried to pass an ordinance that was clearly unbiblical. As I was discussing it with others, I stumbled upon a disturbing trend. While everyone I talked with agreed that the ordinance was wrong, most could not effectively support their position—especially when asked...

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Nov 04, 2013

The Question Expedition

“I do not want my children’s education to be so fast-paced and so abstract that there is no time to meditate on the fantastical. I do not want them to treat glorious facts as mundane.” – Leigh Bortins, The Question Sometimes I think about homeschooling as if it is an...

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Nov 01, 2013

My Favorite Sources for Really Good Books

He ate and drank the precious words, His spirit grew robust, He knew no more that he was poor, Or that his frame was dust. He danced along the dingy ways And this bequest of wings Was but a book. What liberty A loosened spirit brings. – Emily Dickinson,...

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Oct 29, 2013

Fear: “Molehill-Maker” or “Mountain-Mover”?

The same Emily Bronte who penned that famously over-the-top Gothic romance, Wuthering Heights, wrote a poem in which one of the most bedrock truths of the Christian faith is expressed in the very first stanza. Bronte dives right in on the importance of faith and of fearlessness: No coward soul...

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Oct 25, 2013

When the Going Gets Tough

“When the going gets tough, the tough get going!” This quote by Joseph Kennedy, father of President John F. Kennedy, urges the soul under attack to hunker down and work harder, putting forth extra effort to battle adversity. The pithy sentiment, designed to inspire a perseverance mentality, often encourages...

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Oct 22, 2013

How to Be the Best Math Tutor

This morning I visited my local Classical Conversations community and observed my son’s Challenge II class and my daughter’s Challenge B class. For both, I was able to be with them during the math seminar and witness some good math teaching. I will not name the tutors, so as...

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